Servicemeu

Main Menu

Navigation and service

Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine

The Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine addresses under the program “Decoding the Human Brain” human brain organization on its different temporal and spatial scales. Due to the complexity of the brain and its extensive changes during the life span and in neuropsychiatric disorders, this can only be achieved by using advanced neuroimaging techniques and high-performance computing. Basic neuroscience goes hand in hand with modeling/simulation to face the challenges Brain Complexity and Big Data Analytics and to develop robust control techniques. This knowledge enables translational medicine to understand, diagnose and cure neurological and mental disorders, which become increasingly relevant in an aging society.

Research Topics

Connectivity & Network Activity

Neuronal activity, brain function and finally behavior emerge from the multi-scale organization of the human connectome. Correspondingly, the activity dynamics is governed by the interaction of multiple scales. Bridging the scales and relating anatomical and activity data is the major challenge addressed using electron microscopy, 3D polarized light imaging (3D-PLI), electrophysiological and MRI measurements, in combination with modeling and simulation.

Neuroimaging

Development, experimental validation and clinical implementation of novel brain imaging methods, and development of new radionuclides as well as radiotracers for the use in life science (medicine/biology) are in the focus of our activity. Hybrid MR-PET scanners provide unique insights into the structure and the mechanisms of the human brain.

Theory, Modeling and Simulation

The steadily growing amounts of neuroscience data require new tools to abstract and integrate these data into multi-scale, multi-modal brain models. Simulation and visualization are needed for hypothesis-driven and explorative virtual investigations. Theory strives to explain the mechanisms underlying the observed phenomena.